You heard right—there is now a bra that can literally save your life in the event of an emergency. Invented by Dr. Elena Bodnar, the Emergency Bra is designed so you can quickly unsnap it, separate the cups and slip it over your face like a mask—one for you and for your non-bra wearing friend (like…uh…me).

On the surface, this may sound like another one of those silly inventions I like to blog about, but once you actually read more about this bra, well, I think it really could come in handy in a bad situation. Check out this description:

It sounds silly, but Bodnar, a Ukraine native who now lives in Chicago, started her medical career studying the effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster. If people had had cheap, readily available gas masks in the first hours after the disaster, she said, they may have avoided breathing in Iodine-131, which causes radiation sickness.

The bra-turned-gas masks could have also been useful during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and for women caught outside during the dust storms that recently enveloped Sydney, she said.

“You have to be prepared all the time, at any place, at any moment, and practically every woman wears a bra,” she said. Her patented devices also look pretty, no different from a conventional bra, she added.

Supposedly a “counterpart device for men” is also in the works although if that turns out to be what I think it’ll be, I suspect it’s never going to be as popular as the bra, which you can purchase here for just $29.95. And while women may now see an annoying increase in “emergencies” when they’re around their male acquaintances, still this is pretty cool. But it does raise one important question…

Why didn’t the Japanese invent this?!

Seriously, if anyone was going to create a bra that does more than support your boobs, shouldn’t it have been the Japanese? After all, they’ve already given us these fine and practical bras…

A bra you can grow things in:

A bra you can use to charge your electronic devices via solar power:

A bra that countdowns the time you have remaining to find a husband (the clock can be stopped by inserting an engagement ring):

A bra that will keep your “twins” warm on those cold, lonely nights (or if you want to save your money, you can just call me):

A bra that can hold your important letters:

A bra to encourage young people to have more babies and reverse Japan’s declining birthrate:

A bra for those who only have time to eat while on the go:

A baseball glove bra (a perfect gift for fans of double headers or the Minnesota Twins…yeah, I went there):

And a bra…well, actually I have no idea what the horses are supposed to represent, but giddy yup:

The gauntlet has been thrown down, perverts people of Japan. I know you can step up to the challenge and do better than this so-called Emergency Bra. I believe in you!